Avatar: Fire Born, Book 1: Water
by snakeboy33
Summary: A role reversal story. The Water Dominion is winning the war, as the Fire Nation struggles to hold against it. As a group of friends wander, they stumble upon a boy in a volcano. This discovery, progresses the flow of destiny for the entire war.


_Water…. Earth… Fire… Air_

_I often hear Fire Sages talking about better times. It was the time when the Avatar kept harmony between the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Dominion, and Air Nomads. It might not have been perfect, but there was peace. But that changed when the Water Dominion attacked. The only one who could use all four elements was the Avatar. He was the only one who could potentially stop the onslaught of the Dominion. But when the world needed him the most, he vanished._

_100 years have now passed, and the war is now more vicious than ever. Six years ago, the Water Dominion attacked the Fire Nation capital. Fire Lord Azulon and most of his generals managed to escape though. This means that the Fire Nation is still alive. However, our sacred home city was drowned by the waterbenders. Zuko and Azula's father and uncle left for the Earth Kingdom to help the war effort._

_People say that the Avatar was never reincarnated into the Air Nomads. But I haven't lost hope yet. I know that someday the Avatar will return to save the world._

**Book One: Water**

**Chapter 1: The Boy In the Volcano**

Ty Lee hummed contently as she bounded up the rocks like a young howler puma. As she stood on the next cliff, she looked over the view. In a list of places for the provisional Fire Nation government to be, she could think of plenty places worse than Ember Island. She couldn't think of any strategic reasons, no one even if their wildest dreams could imagine Ty Lee as a military leader, but it was the perfect vacation spot. It was almost always sunny, it was nice and warm, the water was crisp and clear, and the forests were peaceful. There wasn't that much Ty Lee couldn't say against it.

"Come on you snail sloths!" she called out.

"You know not everyone is as flighty as you," Azula said as she climbed up after the girl in pink. As she finally managed to climb up next to her friend, she looked down.

"Mai! Zuko! If you are two are done down there then get up, or we're going on without you!"

Ty Lee have expected a few daggers to whisk through the air, coupled with a blast of flames. Instead, she heard two unenthusiastic "okay"s, and she watched Zuko and Mai climb up.

Half the reason Ty Lee invited (as in forced) Mai to come along was it would give Mai a reason to wear something other than her long skirt. Even she would be unable to hike wearing her dress. Ty Lee also got Zuko and Azula to wear something other than their royal uniforms, which Ty Lee thought were complete eye sores.

"Come on, if we keep moving, we're almost to the top!" Ty Lee said excitedly, as she started climbing again.

"By Agni, Ty Lee," Zuko said as he sat down after climbing all the way up, "We've been hiking non stop for hours now. Can't we take a break?"

"For once I'm with Zuzu," Azula said, ignoring Zuko's angry response to the nickname, "I say we eat lunch now, and continue later."

"Ah come on!" Ty Lee whined with a pout," Just a little farther? With any guy on Ember Island, this pout would make heed her every command. She even suspected a few girls would fall victim. Of course…

"No," Azula said frankly, as she sat on a rock, "Come on Zuzu, we're hungry!" Ty Lee relented, as she sat down also.

The food they brought was less to be desired. Had things been normal, they could eat almost anything, since they were all nobility. Unfortunately, war rationing had removed that luxury. Even the Fire Lord had to be careful with how much he ate.

Ty Lee looked around at her friends. They were all eating in silence, even Zuko and Mai weren't really cuddling. Their auras seemed particularly gray, of course Mai's aura was always like that. With that in mind, Ty Lee took it upon herself to lighten the mood. She lay back on the rocks, as she munched on her fire flakes.

"That cloud looks like a baby moose lion!" she said, pointing, "And that one looks like a sealguana!" The rest of the group gave half-hearted side glances at the sky, before going back to their food. Ty Lee sighed at their bleak behavior. But Ty Lee was not one to give up, especially when it came to trying to cheer people up.

"Don't you just love Ember Island," she said, with a big smile, "Its so nice and warm."

"We're not on a vacation!" Zuko said standing, "We were forced out our sacred homeland by the waterbenders." Zuko's outburst had caught Ty Lee by surprise. His frustration gave her a good view of the three vertical lines that framed the left side of his face. They served as physical evidence of the situation they were in.

"Sorry," Ty Lee said softly, looking down, "Just trying to give us a little light." Zuko took a breath, as he sat back down.

"Because we don't have plenty of that," Mai said sarcastically, barely looking up. Ty Lee just kept looking down. What was truly worrying her, was she had seen this beyond just her dreary comrades. Morale amongst the soldiers and the people was at an all time low. If there was ever a time when the Fire Nation needed hope, it was now.

Her deep thinking, or the closest Ty Lee could come to, was there was a slight rumble. That got everyone's attention.

"What was that?" Ty Lee asked.

"Take a guess," Azula said as she stood up and looked around.

"I thought this volcano was dormant," Zuko said, as he also stood.

"Obviously not," Azula said, "Let's get going. We need to tell Grandfather about this."

"Finally," Mai droned on as she immediately stood, and got moving. As Ty Lee was starting to follow the group, she looked over her shoulder, and something caught her eye.

"Look!" she said, pointing. As the others turned to where she was, they all saw at the top of the mountain, there was a slight glow.

"That's probably not a good sign," Azula said, "Keep moving." She, her brother, and Mai continued to climb down, but Ty Lee let her curiosity get the better of her. Instead, she started climbing up instead of down.

"Ty Lee!" Zuko called, as he went after her, Mai in tow. Azula pinched herself between the eyes, as she also followed.

"Are you out of your mind?" Azula said, "This is a volcano!"

"Maybe what the Fire Sages are saying is true," Ty Lee said, as she continued climbing. In Fire Sage sermons, they told stories about how volcanos being spiritual fissures, where Agni could project his will directly into the world.

"You can't seriously believe all that," Mai said, "That's just a bunch of old guys in story time!" Ty Lee didn't pay attention though, instead, continuing to climb, until she finally reached the top.

The brown-haired girl looked down. Instead of lava like she expected, there was a layer of volcanic rock. And seeping through the cracks in that rock, were beams of light. Ty Lee slid down into the caldera, and hurried to the center, where the light was. She got on her knees to get a better look, and then looked around for something to use. She ultimately settled on a metal knife she always carried, and started chipping away at it.

"Ty Lee!" Azula called, as she looked down, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I've gotta see what's in here!" she declared," I Just gotta!"

"So you just think we're going to sit by and let you be turned into some more lava rock?" Azula asked, as she slid down after her. She then ran over, and grabbed Ty Lee's arm that wasn't stabbing on the ground. As she did that, Ty Lee's knife made one final stab into the ground. That broke the rock, and a blast of air escape. This sent the two girls sprawling back.

"Azula! Ty Lee!" Zuko called.

After the daze that had been set upon the two in the caldera wore off, they looked down. They then noticed that more of the earth was cracking.

"Get moving!" Azula ordered, as she started to run. Ty Lee obeyed, and hurried after her. By the time they got to the edge of the volcano, the rocks had almost completely shattered, revealing the magma beginning to seep out. They started to climb, and were heaved out by their friends.

"Okay, you are officially idiots," Mai said bluntly.

"Don't blame I was just following Ty Lee," Azula said pointing.

"Sorry," Ty Lee said with a sigh," I just can't help it."

"Well you might have just woken a volcano," Azula said, "Let's get home so we can tell the Fire Lord."

"Okay," Ty Lee relented, as the group began to move. As they did, a single beam of light exploded from the lava, and into the sky.

"What in Agni's name?" Zuko said slowly. They all looked down into the caldera, they saw the light was coming from within the lava itself. From the light, two shapes then rose. One of those shapes was very large, almost the size of a Fire Nation drop ship. The other one was much smaller like a person. They seemed to be encased in some kind of bubble of air. They rose higher into the air, until they began to descend back down. But instead of landing in the volcano, they landed in a ledge further down.

Ty Lee was the first to start running down towards the clearing. The others followed, with Mai noting a pattern that seemed to be developing. As Ty Lee slid down to the level, she started to get a good look at was down there. The large one was some kind of animal, but not like any she had seen before. It was furry, with a large head with horns, six legs, and a long flat tail. She also saw that was wearing a saddle. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. The smaller form was a…. boy?

"What in Agni's name is that thing?" Mai asked.

"Who knows?" Zuko answered, as he instinctively put an arm around her shoulders, "But we should tell Grandfather, so he can alert the troops!"

"Why would he need to do that?" Ty Lee asked as she started walking forward.

"Its obvious," Azula answered with a shrug, "That beam of light was no doubt supposed to signal the Water Navy. So stay away for now." Ty Lee ignored them as she moved forward. She knelt down, and saw it was a boy. A boy dressed in orange. He was bald, and had tattoos like arrows.

Yeah, because who knows how many little boys the Water Dominion has sent out?" Mai said sarcastically. Ty Lee pressed her head to his heart.

"He's alive!" she said, looking up. THAT caught the others off guard.

"That's impossible!" Zuko said, "No one can survive being in a volcano!"

"Well this guy did," Ty Lee said. As she said that, she heard a grunt, and she looked down. The boy was slowly opening his eyes.

When he did, he saw Ty Lee's face, and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Can you do something for me?" he asked weakly.

"What?" Ty Lee asked.

"One… thing," the boy continued.

"Yes?"

"Will you go rhino riding with me?" the boy suddenly said as he smiled big, and with remarkable zest.

"Umm…. okay," Ty Lee said.

"Alright!" the boy said excitedly, as he jumped up, or more accurately floated up. He then saw that standing behind Ty Lee, were three other people. Two of them were in bend stances, the other one had knives between their fingers.

"Who are you?" Azula demanded.

"What happened here?" the boy said, looking around, ignoring her completely. He then blinked, as he jumped onto the giant furry thing.

"Hey, Appa!" he said, as he jumped onto its back, "Wake up buddy!" There was a groaning sound that made Ty Lee's skin seem to vibrate, as the beast stirred and got up slowly.

"This is Appa, my flying bison," the boy introduced. The others just stared at him.

"Right," Mai said, "Would you like me to take you to meet my flying baby brother?" Her sarcasm bounced right off the boy.

"Well, I'm Aang," he said.

Before Azula could tell her not to tell their names, Ty Lee said, "I'm Ty Lee. These are my friends, Azula, her brother Zuko, and his girlfriend Mai."

"Do you guys live here?" this guy, Aang, asked.

"If you think we're telling you that, then you're wrong," Azula said, as she held up her hands, and some fire lit to life.

"You guys firebenders?" Aang asked, completely unfazed, aside from some curiosity.

"Both my sister and me," Zuko said, as several fireballs also lit to life in his hands, "And if you get any smart ideas…"

"That's so cool!" Aang said jumping up, "I normally don't see any other benders!"

"Are you a bender?" Ty Lee asked.

"Sure am!" Aang said, "Check this out!" With that, he took a stance, before rotating his hands around. Wind then gather around his hands, before forming a sphere. He then jumped onto it, and hovered in the air. For once, even Mai was awestruck.

"An airbender?" Zuko stuttered.

"That's me!" Aang said, as he circled around Ty Lee, sending a breeze around her. Ty Lee put her hands on her skirt to keep it down. Fortunately, Aang didn't seem like a pervert.

"So, you guys live around here?" he asked a second time.

"You still think we'll tell you?" Azula said, not breaking her stance.

"Come on!" Ty Lee insisted, "Why would the Water Dominion have an airbender?"

"Even if we did tell you, it would take too long to get there," Zuko said, "It took us a few hours to just get here."

"Well, Appa and I can give you a lift," Aang said as he jumped up onto Appa's head, "We can just fly you there!"

"No way!" Azula said, "We're not getting on that giant beast!"

"Well, I'm up for it!" Ty Lee said as she jumped onto the saddle, "It sounds fun!"

Mai thought about it, before shrugging.

"I'm not up for walking," she said, "And seeing that Zuko left Akai at the fortress, flying seems like a good alternative." With that, she climbed up onto the saddle.

"Well, if Mai's going, then so should I," Zuko said as he soon followed. That left just Azula, who still looked all the stubborn.

"Come on Azula!" Ty Lee said, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could think of several things," Azula said, "I'm not getting on that ting!"

Ty Lee couldn't think of anything that could convince Azula to get on. Fortunately Mai did.

"Very well then," she said, "I suppose then Zuko will take all the glory for bringing an airbender to the fortress." Azula opened her mouth to protest, but she was too prideful to let that go.

"Move over Zuzu!" she ordered, as she climbed on.

"Alright, everybody get ready!" Aang said, "Yip! Yip!" With that Appa inhaled, before beating his tail. From that, he then burst into the air briefly, before floating back down again, and beginning to trudge forward. Needless to say, the Fire Nation folk were not impressed.

"Told you to bring Akai," Mai muttered to Zuko.

"Come on! Yip! Yip!" Aang repeated.

"Everything okay?" Ty Lee asked as she moved over.

"Appa's just tired," Aang said turning with a smile, "He'll get better! Besides, you guys can still take a break."

"Seems you're not hard to get down," Ty Lee said with her own smile.

"Nope! Its the calling card of the Air Nomads!" Aang declared still smiling. Ty Lee smiled back at him.

"I get the feeling that we've just gotten ourselves into something big," Zuko said.

"Trust me, Dum-Dum," Azula said, patting Zuko on the shoulder, "I think its obvious."

**Note: I've been wanting to do this kind of story of a while. I was finally inspired by reading some of the role reversal stories. The pairings are currently up for interpretation, because I figure that some people will give up on a story if it has a slightest bit of a pairing they don't like. I am taking ideas as to how the story can go, because I don't want it to just mimic canon, I want their to be significant deviations. As you can all probably guess, Zuko and Azula's relationship is infinitely better in this.**


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